Despite Hasan Ali’s poor performance in the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final against Australia on Thursday, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam batted for the 27-year-old.
Throughout the tournament, Ali had been Pakistan’s weak link, but he buckled under strain during a crucial match in the penultimate round. He gave up 15 runs in his final over, the 18th of the innings, and concluded with dreadful statistics of 0 for 44.
Ali lost a catch of Matthew Wade at deep midwicket in the next over, bowled by Shaheen Afridi. The Australian batsman blasted three consecutive sixes to advance his club to the final. Babar Azam
At a post-match press conference, Azam refuted claims that Pakistan paid a price for sticking with Ali despite his several failures.
“I don’t feel like that. He is our main bowler and has won many matches for Pakistan. Players do drop catches sometimes. He is fighting it out and I will keep backing him. Every player cannot perform in every game. Some individuals who are having a good day try to make the most of it and come up with good performances.” Azam countered
The captain of Pakistan also stated that the team is unconcerned about Ali’s detractors.
“Yes, he is a bit down. We will keep backing him and giving him confidence. People will say a lot of things, but we are behind him.” Azam admitted
In the T20 World Cup 2021, Ali only took five wickets in six matches for Pakistan. He was not only pricey, but he also had a habit of bowling a lot of no balls.
Shadab Khan
Shadab Khan, Pakistan’s vice-captain and leg-spinner, starred for the squad with figures of 4 for 26. Mohammad Hafeez, on the other hand, bowled only one over in the innings as Azam trusted Ali to finish the job.
“We had many spin options. There was Shoaib Malik and Hafeez as well so we had four spinners. But we couldn’t utilize them due to the condition and situation of the game. Hafeez bhai looked a bit off color today so I couldn’t get him to bowl more overs. Overall, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf have been very good. Shadab Khan also came up with an outstanding performance. We stuck to the bowling combination that we believed in. The result did not go our way today but we will try and learn from it.” Azam explained
Australia needed 50 runs off the final four overs to beat Pakistan in the semi-final, but they won with an over to spare thanks to Wade’s (41* off 17) heroics.
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